Moving Around and Following One’s Nose

I’ve gotten some requests on this blog to go a little more into my research. Don’t worry! It’s coming. But, for now, I want to focus on a “career-related” issue, since this is a bio career related blog. In particular, this entry is a response to an article that recently appeared in the Wall Street Journal by Kay Hymowitz, entitled “Where Have all the Good Men Gone?” This is an excellent article on the state of the male “millenials,” as we are called, and their relationships (or sometimes lack thereof) with their female counterparts.

I’ve gotten some requests on this blog to go a little more into my research. Don’t worry! It’s coming. But, for now, I want to focus on a “career-related” issue, since this is a bio career related blog. In particular, this entry is a response to an article that recently appeared in the Wall Street Journal by Kay Hymowitz, entitled “Where Have all the Good Men Gone?” This is an excellent article on the state of the male “millenials,” as we are called, and their relationships (or sometimes lack thereof) with their female counterparts.

The reason this is an important article to discuss in a blog on careers in bio-related (or any science-related) fields is that the nature of personal relationships can be different for us than it is for people of other lifestyle professions. One of Ms. Hymowitz’s excellent points is that “’what you do’ is almost synonymous with ‘who you are.’” She uses this observation to point towards 20-30-year-old males’ reluctance to start a family today (e.g., Seth Rogen in Knocked Up). In particular, she correctly identifies the unsettled nature of professional development – which she equates to identity development – as being an inhibitive influence on men “manning up” to the familial duties they historically have done during this age bracket.

But, let’s consider the nomadic lifestyle of a budding researcher: you spend four years here for college, five years there for graduate school, two years somewhere else for a post-doc, etc. How is anyone supposed to get a sense of stability? But that’s what the scientific development – remember, it’s also identity development – is all about: moving around and following one’s nose (here, nose = research). For instance, I went to the University of Chicago as an undergraduate to study physics and music. As of April 1 of my last year there, I had no idea where I’d be living the following August. One week after being hooded for my PhD, I had no idea where I’d be working in the coming two months. This is the life of someone who follows their nose, i.e. their ambition. And forming/maintaining relationships can be hard at times.

Of course, Ms. Hymowitz is generalizing a little bit in her article. She is talking about the “Animal House” crowd of the 20-30-year-olds. You know those guys. Sometimes you might even be one of those guys! I’m sure I’ve had my “Toga! Toga!” moments. But in biomedical research professions, we are maturing until we’re in our 30’s. We’re getting our identity together. Contrary to most guys’ beliefs, when a girl asks you ‘what do you do,’ she’s asking more than ‘how much you make:’ she’s asking you ‘who are you.’ Easy, girls, we’re still figuring that out. But when we do, you’ll know it.